The total value of food and live animal exports increased by 23% to almost €1.2 billion in the year up to April, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Overall, Ireland’s unadjusted exports of goods were €17.7 billion in April, an increase of 44% when compared to the same month in 2021.
This was driven by growth in the exports of medical and pharmaceutical products which increased by 58% to €7.1 billion and organic chemicals rose by 84% to almost €3.1 billion.
Exports to Britain in April were €1.57 billion, an increase of €553 million.
The main change was an increase in the exports of chemicals and related products (€694 million), mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (€104 million) and food and live animals (€320 million).
The EU accounted for 39%of total goods exports in April of which €2.8 billion went to Germany and €1.3 billion to Belgium.
The USA was the main non-EU destination accounting for €5.496 billion of total exports that month.
Unadjusted imports were valued at €11.2 billion in April, representing an increase of 36% in 12 months.
Imports of mineral fuels, lubricants and related products increased by €947 million to €1.3 billion in April.
Organic chemical imports increased by 49%to €1.2 billion, while the import of specialised machinery grew by €616 million to €769 million.
The CSO said that imports from Britain grew by 78% to almost €2.1 billion in April 2022 compared with April 2021, driven mainly by increases in the imports of mineral fuels and chemicals and related products.
“It should be noted that the large growth rate in imports from Britain is partly explained by the relatively low level of imports in April 2021.
“April 2021 was the fourth month in which customs documentation was required for trade with Britain, which impacted on our trade,” Ciarán Counihan, CSO statistician, explained.
Imports from Northern Ireland in the first four months of 2022 increased by €355 million to €1.5 billion when compared with the same period in 2021.
Exports were €1.52 billion during that timeframe, an increase of 40%.